The Mohawk Tribe

The Mohawk Tribe which means "People of the Flint", were one of the original and largest members of the Five Nations which joined together with the Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga to form the Iroquois Confederacy. They obtained leadership of the Five Tribes by force with guns from the Dutch fur traders. Culturally the Mohawks were a matrilineal society, meaning the children's linage is passed on from mother to sons and daughters. The Clan Mothers held power to select which men would become chiefs among the tribe. After marriage a brave moved in with the wife's family and lived in dwellings called Longhouses.
Prior to the appearance of the Dutch fur traders the Mohawks had already been given the nickname "Rattlesnake or Adder" by other Iroquois Tribes and outside tribes. They were not well liked because they would fight and attack their own neighbors for hunting territory. They had a fierce reputation for extreme torture and slow roasting their victims and eating them. As they obtained guns from the Dutch fur traders and conquered the other Iroquois Tribes they gave them voting rights, however outside tribes who were essentially conquered were only extended the protection of the Covenant Chain (The conquered Mohican became the first). This was much like the U.S. treatment of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. They handled all of the conquered affairs but no voting rights. Both the French and British took advantage of this central control. for example the British could call upon the league to police various sub members.
While the Mohawks used their fire power at one point to expand their power as far south as Pennsylvania, west through the Ohio Valley, north to Michigan and part of Canada. By1677 the Iroquois had signed treaties as the Five Nations and members after that did not operate separately.
While their power peaked by 1680 they were eventually forced back into New York by the conclusion of the Beaver Wars and the defeat of the French.
In conclusion their unique political system which allowed them to dominate in the first 200 years of Colonial History later failed due to loss of territories and creditability towards other tribesmen from poor decisions on treaties beginning with the Fort Stanwix treaty of 1784 and then deteriorating over the next 60 years. This culminated with the Indian removal act of 1830.

References

1. European Invasion of Indian North America, 1513–1765. Ian K. Steele.
Americans at War. Ed. John P. Resch. Vol. 1: 1500-1815. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. p55-60.Reference USA, 2005. p55-60.s Sons, 2006. p557-559

2. Iroquois League. Leonard J. Sadosky.
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History. Ed. Harold E. Selesky. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. p557-559


Pat W.